World

1st June 2007

10:39 AM — The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone argues that the Latvian government and the Mayor of Riga should allow their gay pride march to go ahead without hindrance.In the past year, there have been attacks on the rights of lesbians and gay men in Eastern Europe with violence at, and/or bans on, Gay Pride events in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Moldova and Romania. I have already, and continue, to condemn all these.

10:39 AM — A woman turned away from a gay bar on the grounds of her gender has lodged a human rights complaint.Audrey Vachon, a 20 year old college student, was refused service and asked to leave Le Stud, a gay bar in Montreal's village, last Tuesday.Ms. Vachon has since made a complaint to Quebec's human rights commission, based on Article 10 of the Quebec Charter, which prevents sexual discrimination.

31st May 2007

4:00 PM — The veteran film and TV actor Fred Thompson has said he intends to seek the Republican party's nomination for President of the United States in 2008."I can't remember exactly the point that I said, 'I'm going to do this,'" Thompson told USA Today."But when I did, the thing that occurred to me: 'I'm going to tell people that I am thinking about it and see what kind of reaction I get to it.'"

3:32 PM — The Governor of New Hampshire signed a civil unions bill into law today. It will come into force on January 1st 2008.The bill previously passed the state's House of Representatives by a margin of 2 to 1.In April the state Senate approved the bill by 14 votes to 10."We in New Hampshire have had a long and proud tradition taking the lead and opposing discrimination," Governor John Lynch said according to AP.

10:16 AM — Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has worked his magic for a third time.The Irish elections held on 24th May 2007 saw Fianna Fail returning as the largest party. They will be lead yet again by Bertie Ahern - his third consecutive five year term.The electorate focused on the two traditional parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, with Bertie winning the trust of the masses, who appeared to be unwilling to stray too far from what they have enjoyed so far under his leadership.

30th May 2007

10:52 PM — Surrogate mothers no longer have to be named as the child's mother on the birth certificate, according to a recent US court decision.The ruling came about as a result of a case involving a surrogate and father from the Washington suburban area.The woman who carried the twins for a father used an egg donor and had no genetic relationship to them. Both she and the father did not want her listed as the mother, the Associated Press reported.

10:52 PM — Given his years of using the old 'I don't talk about my personal life' line, it should come as no surprise that Frasier actor David Hyde Pierce's first official declaration that he's gay was not by press release or calculated announcement, but via a sly name drop that named the Emmy winning star's partner.In an interview with CNN.com to promote his Tony-nominated turn in the Broadway musical Curtains, the journalist makes reference to Pierce's partner Brian Hargrove.

10:52 PM — Former Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Knight, a linguist who served openly during two enlistments in the US Navy, is to join forces with pressure group the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network.SLDN are working for repeal of the American military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel.Petty Officer Knight came out to his command and was subsequently discharged from the Navy in 2005.

6:06 PM — City councillors in Stockholm have invited the Mayor of Moscow to the city's gay Pride festival in August.Their tongue-in-cheek invite comes in the wake of the Russian's ban on similar public displays by LGBT people in his city.Stockholm city council Green Party leader Yvonne Ruwaida hit upon the idea of showing Mayor Yuri Luzhkov how Pride is celebrated on the other side of the Baltic Sea, and she was backed by councillors from other parties.

5:40 PM — Dutch police have confirmed they are holding three men who they suspect of using so-called "sex parties" to rape men and inject them with HIV infected blood.Reuters reports that AIDS groups in the city of Groningen approached police about the parties after receiving tipoffs.Two of the accused are reported to have confessed to injecting their victims against their will with their blood. Both tested positive for the virus.

2:38 PM — Poland's ombudsman for children's rights has said she will not be asking state psychologists to examine the BBC children's programme Teletubbies for a gay subtext.Ewa Sowinska has been widely mocked since she said in a magazine interview that the popular show might not be suitable for public television because one of the ostensibly male characters, Tinky Winky, carries a handbag.Ms Sowinska is a member of the League of Polish Families, a political party which is part of the country's coalition government.

10:55 AM — A lawsuit has been filed in a New York federal court on behalf of a same-sex couple after the self-described "America's number one home loan lender" refused to add one partner to the other's existing mortgage and then threatened to foreclose on their home.Adola DeWolf, 49, a teacher for juveniles in the justice system, and Laura Watts, 42, a college administrator, have been in a relationship since 2004.

10:40 AM — Gay men planning to get married in Spain now can pamper themselves before the big day thanks to a luxury bridal shop recently opened just for them.The shop, called By, offers made-to-measure suits, some of which are inlaid with 22-carat gold.They also sell rings and other accessories created by a collection of Spanish designers.

29th May 2007

4:31 PM — The organisers of the banned Moscow Pride have announced they are already planning next year's event.For the past two years a gay march on 27th May has been banned by the city's mayor.On Sunday Moscow Pride organisers, MEPs and prominent British gay activists were among 31 people arrested as they attempted to deliver a letter of protest about the ban to the mayor's office.

3:49 PM — Desmond Tutu has called for the Anglican Church in Africa to stop "obsessing" with gay priests and same-sex marriages.The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Archbishop of Cape Town said that church leaders in Africa were not paying enough attention to problems in Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDs, or the crisis in Darfur.He told ABC News: "There are so many issues crying out for concern and application by the church of its resources, and here we are, I mean, with this kind of extraordinary obsession."

2:52 PM — A famous British concert pianist has been banned from performing in Vietnam because officials are worried about his sexuality.Vietnamese authorities refused to grant Stephen Hough a license to play because they thought he would be a security risk, according to The Telegraph. The company who invited him to play in Vietnam, Hennessy, promptly withdrew their invitation to the award-winning musician.

12:03 PM — The Scottish owner of a gay bar in Australia has won the right to ban lesbians and heterosexual men from its premises.A tribunal made the historic ruling after hotelier Tom McFeely argued that women and straight men posed a physical threat to his guests in Peel Hotel, Melbourne.The Victoria tribunal said: "Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons."

11:05 AM — The Polish government is currently investigating the Teletubbies over claims of homosexuality.The popular children's television show, and especially the character of Tinky Winky, has been accused of promoting gay propaganda by the conservative government.Teletubbies features four brightly coloured alien characters which are loved by young children.

28th May 2007

2:52 PM — Labour deputy leadership candidate, Northern Ireland Secretary and former Europe Minister Peter Hain has expressed to PinkNews.co.uk his grave concern about the treatment of gay rights protesters in Moscow.Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell was violently attacked by anti-gay protesters in Moscow. Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass was also punched in the face while giving a TV interview. Both were there to support today's banned gay rights march in the city. Mr Tatchell was later arrested.

27th May 2007

9:31 PM — PinkNews.co.uk Exclusive"I'm not deterred one iota from coming back to protest in Moscow," Peter Tatchell told PinkNews.co.uk from Moscow, just hours after he was attacked by suspected neo-Nazis and then arrested by the Russian riot police the OMON. "Gay Russians need overseas support to protect them against state and neo-Nazi violence."Mr Tatchell told PinkNews.co.uk: "I urge people to protest to the Russian Ambassador and to ask their local MP to send a letter of protest to the Russian embassy."

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